- The Palermo Ladies Open marks the new beginning of the season for the WTA circuit
- During the pandemic, the WTA decided to freeze the rankings as of March 16 and make the points valid from March 2019 to December 2020
- Let’s take a look to the rankings. Ashleigh Barty and Simona Halep lead the field, Johanna Konta and Heather Watson are the only Brits in the top 100
LONDON, UK – The WTA season is ready to restart. Here’s the rankings, frozen during the lockdown. Johanna Konta, ranked No.14, is the Brit No.1
[table “ADPDAll” not found /]
The WTA circuit has restarted. The Palermo Ladies Open raises the curtain again on the 2020 shortened season. After the lockdown caused by COVID-19 pandemic, the WTA alongside the ATP reached an agreement to freeze and modify the ranking system.
The WTA decided to freeze the rankings as of March 16, 2020. The revised system will extend points beyond the traditional 52-week window. So for the rest of the season, a player’s amount of points will be based on her best 16 results between March 2019 and December 2020 at Tour-level and Grand Slam events. The same tournament, however, can’t be counted twice. Tour-level points added in 2020 will drop after the 2021 edition of the corresponding event, and after no more than 52 weeks in any case.
WTA Rankings, the top 10
Ashleigh Barty led the WTA Rankings as the season stopped. The Australian announced to cancel all competitions scheduled in the US within the coming weeks, fearing “important dangers” linked to the pandemic. She will maintain the 2019 US Open points, anyway.
Simona Halep, ranked No.2, was granted a wild-card in Palermo but eventually renounced and delayed her news debut this season. She was worried by the possibility of self-isolation in Italy, as the government imposed restrictions to travellers from Romania, although not for athletes and professional workers in general.
Here’s the top 10 as of March 16, 2020, the rankings positions as the season restarts.
1 -Ashleigh Barty (AUS) 8717 pts
2 -Simona Halep (RO) 6076
3 -Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 5205
4 -Sofia Kenin (USA) 4590
5 -Elina Svitolina (UKR) 4580
6 -Bianca Andreescu (CAN) 4555
7 -Kiki Bertens (NED) 4335
8 -Belinda Bencic (SUI) 4010
9 -Serena Williams (USA) 3915
10-Naomi Osaka (JPN) 3625
READ MORE | Tennis | Madrid Open in doubt due to Covid-19 concerns
The top 10 Brits in the rankings
Two British players features in the WTA Top 50: Johanna Konta, the nation’s top-ranked player, and Heather Watson. The World No.14 Konta withdrew from Palermo Ladies Open. Watson continued to build up to the return of the professional tour with a streak of fine victories at the Battle of the Brits Team Tennis, in her first matches since March. She maintains her plan to come back in the US. Both are expected to play in the brand-new WTA event in Lexington from August 10.
READ MORE | Tennis | Battle of the Brits Team Tennis | Everything you need to know
1 -Johanna Konta (World No.14) 2803 pts
2 -Heather Watson (50) 1122
3 -Harriet Dart (146) 430
4 -Samantha Murray Sharan (180) 345
5 -Naiktha Bains (223) 267
6 -Katie Swan (254) 235
7 -Jodie Burrage (289) 197
8 -Francesca Jones (322) 164
9 -Katy Dunne (325) 161
10-Amanda Carreras (334) 154
 |
|---|
| Follow Britwatch - Sport in General, Brits in Particular! | |
|---|---|
| Soundcloud | |
| YouTube | |
| We may receive compensation for products purchased via affiliate links on this website | |